In This Issue of Psychiatric Times: Volume 37, No 3

Psychiatrists Beware! The Impact of COVID-19 and Pandemics on Mental Health. Psychiatrists are uniquely situated to help both their patients and the greater community understand the potential impact of the virus and help patients, families, and society deal with this latest threat. By Nidal Moukaddam, MD, PhD, and Asim Shah, MD.

Chairman and Founder, MJH Life Sciences, Mike Hennessy Sr, introduces the March issue with We’ve Come a Long Way . . . Or Have We?

Reframing Our Relationship With Pharma. It can be disheartening to hear about the pervasive culture at many medical centers and health care systems to ostracize the pharmaceutical industry, and not uncommonly, to threaten to fire employed physicians and clinicians who would like to attend educational programs about new medications on their own free time. By John J. Miller, MD.

Understanding Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics for Better Treatment Adherence. Patient nonadherence to long-term antipsychotic therapy presents clinicians with unique unmet needs but also opportunities for promoting the realistic benefits of consistent treatment. Michael W. Jann, PharmD.

Why You May Want to Swipe Left on Social Media. Based on recent data, it is looking more and more like the answer may be that social media is not particularly beneficial for most of us. By Jessica Lipschitz, MD, and John Torous, MD, MBI.

Common Errors Psychiatrists Make When Managing Mood Disorders in Pregnant Patients. This article describes common misconceptions about treatment of psychiatric illness during pregnancy and advocates for a logical and thoughtful approach to designing a treatment plan. By Jennifer L. Payne, MD.

Managing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia. BPSD is associated with worse outcomes for patients with dementia. Management is not standardized, but protocols generally involve the treatment of underlying symptoms followed by the use of nonpharmacological management techniques and evidence-based pharmacotherapy for refractory BPSD. By Rajesh R. Tampi, MD, MS, DFAPA, and Deena J. Tampi, MSN, MBA-HCA.

Are We Making Any Progress in Treatment and Attitudes? How much progress has been made in the area of substance use disorders in the last 40 years? By Thomas R. Kosten, MD. Dear Provider. I read Dear Provider in a letter from a health care company. Provider is a fine word, and I’ve always felt proud to provide for my family-but the company doesn’t know guys from Jersey are sensitive. By Richard M. Berlin, MD.

Assassins in London and Washington Force Changes in the Insanity Defense. Across the centuries, March has been an eventful month for the insanity defense on both sides of the Atlantic, and the McNaughten rule remains the prevalent standard to this day. By Kenneth J. Weiss, MD.

Treatment Nonadherence: An Epidemic Hidden in Plain Sight. A number of factors affect treatment adherence, including the therapeutic alliance, perceived perceived lack of control, risk of dependence on medications, stigma associated with medication use, and more. By Mansoor Malik, MD, Suneeta Kumari, MD, and Partam Manalai, MD.

When Baby and OCD Are on Board Assessment and Treatment Issues. OCD in the general population often differs from OCD that presents in the perinatal period. It is imperative to recognize, assess, and treat perinatal OCD to improve maternal and child outcomes and have a transgenerational impact. By Shelly Kucherer, MD, and Nancy Byatt, DO, MBA.